With the oncoming chill of winters bite frost crept over the pumpkin patch.
Vibrant oranges and greens withered and dulled; the once fertile ground steadily freezing solid. Any pumpkins not picked for the harvest were left there to slowly rot until the seeds would once again start to bloom in spring. Pumpkin had fallen asleep in the caring clasp of her gardeners mouth; content to let the male carry her where he willed. What she was not prepared for was waking up in the cold. Alone. In an unknown land surrounded by willow trees. They had odd markings; those trees and for a while she was willing to patiently wait. That was what she had been told to do... yet as the minutes lengthened into hours and the bite of winter started creeping through her fur she started to whimper. Why was Gardener not back yet? It was almost as if... as if he'd left her. A gourd accidentally rolled from the harvesting cart and left by the wayside. Stiffly pumpkin rose as snowflakes started to fall and she stuck her tongue out to catch one. Perhaps that would help ease her thirst? She wanted to walk over closer to the willows; to look closer at the signs on it but as she started to lift up her paw there was a pain. A yelp escaped as pumpkin froze; a horrifying situation coming to light. She'd been still so long that the hairs from between her toes and paw pads were stuck to the ice and snow. She was stuck. Whimpering; she let out a loud howl; calling for Gardener. Surely he was already on his way back from getting food and would come running? While she waited for him to show she tenderly licked at the top of her front toes while shivering. Yet as soon as her tongue stopped they felt even colder than before (thanks to the new moisture and freezing temperatures). Pumpkin kept licking. Even as her tongue started to feel dry and tingled. Her toes felt stings with each touch and with a whimper she stopped; crouching to try and share what little heat she had with them.

For as many times he visited this side of Doutaini, Keston always tried to manage a visit to these willows. It was here that he shed many of his prayers so that his voice lifted up to Kei from the ocean to this land and everywhere in between, praying that the wolves of water were protected across all of Doutaini. Under the tree of Kei was one of the few places he was not met with a sense of restless over being caught inland and surrounded by masses of land, not sea. With much to be thankful for, Keston was eager to delight his heart in moments devoted to Kei. His approach is rendered in silence as he passed between the whiplike branches, where winter had robbed the branches bare. They comb through the golden hair layering across his form, catching and tugging at the tufts of the leonine mane he sports. The Lioncourt moves forward calmly until he is met with the cries of a whimpering youth, and he does not spare a moment as his limbs swiftly move to investigate. A child in this cold would not survive long.

Keston arrives to find young Pumpkin shivering and frozen to the ground. Cerulean eyes grow wide, for he nearly cannot believe it, but he is quick to go to her with a gentleness in his voice. "Everything will be all right, little one. My name is Keston and I'm here to help." The lion explains, stepping forward to offer the warmth of his body by standing over her. His eyes set to seeing her feet freed from their frozen vices, inhaling deeply where the cold dry air stings at his lungs. He is accustomed to higher level of humidity, yet Keston does as he must. With the air warmed within his lungs, he would exhale with his muzzle positioned to direct the air at her feet in an effort to help her escape. Though he had never dreamed of leaving Water, at this moment, he would not have minded if he were a wolf of Fire.

A southern wind gently blows in the solitude of the abandoned pumpkin patch.

A stranger came in answer to her whimpers; swift and sure in his movements. Pumpkin ducked and tried to dart out of the way; sure that he was going to flatten her into pie but he didn't. He seemed... careful in his placement and as warmth from his body seeped along her spine she relaxed slightly. What ever he planned on doing; she couldn't get away yet so she'd wait... and he offered to help. Keston. Surely if he was planning anything evil he wouldn't have told her his name? Unless he was planning on killing or locking her away so it wouldn't matter if she knew his name. "Gardener'll be back any minute; so don't try muffins." She had a serious; no nonsense tone of voice to her that was hilarious coming from such a fluff of a pup. He leaned down to breath on her paws and she could see his eyes; blue as the sky. She gave an experimental tug of her paw and it felt like there was a little give to it... but not enough. A calmness started to settle as her shivers slowed tucked against the warmth of his this neck fur. "Maybe try again?" She didn't want to seem bossy but just knowing that she couldn't move her paws made her want to do so all the more. Of course; if he knew of a faster way to help she was all ears. Maybe pee would work; but it'd been hours since she'd had anything other than some snowflakes to drink and he was a boy... it wasn't like she could talk about pee to him. Nope. Not happening.

Upon his ascension in to puberty, Tennyson had drifted away from Water to truly explore Doutaini and meet new people. It was an effort to find himself, to flex out his updated personality. If anyone from Water noticed, he had not changed much, but the boy had grew a mischievous nature and found himself often drifting off to think about girls, or to practice his charisma for times should he happen to find a fae worth swooning. But he is still very much innocent, save for his newly aquired interest, and still loves the Cerulean and its members. Yet, the title he wore with him was starting to become just that -- a title.

He follows the trail of Keston's scent in wonder of what the man is up to. Parting through the willows' branches, he finds a scene he hasn't seen before. At first, he doesn't know what to do, for the boy did not have the softness Keston possessed around children of those ages, so he merely sits and asks, "Anything I can do to help?"

She was to help lead Fire now, which meant venturing further than she'd been in her younger years. An adult now, unsure of who or what she was, only that she had been abandoned by parents who had been taken too soon. Why, Akako? So on a wintry day when not even the desert could cure her of her boredom; she let her paws take her to the furthest parts of Doutaini, a place she knew her mother had hung out at often, to pull in stragglers and newcomers and those just as unsure about life as Lyon was. It brought a smile to her dark lips, knowing that no matter what anyone said about her mother; the fire empress had always been a wolf to help others' first. She'd talked herself into the walk, the longest of journies to the very edge of Doutaini- but after all the coaxing it turned out that it really wasn't that far after all. The willows, a place where wanderers could get a feel for the packs of Doutaini, where they could decide just by touching the appropriate engraved tree.

She arrives just after the second water wolf, a young lad that was familiar to her as just a pup at their day of activities, but no name rises for her to speak. Keston is also there, and as Lyonesse comes forwards she offers him a smile equipped with charm. There was something about his softness that enticed her, and perhaps her gaze lingers just a tad too long on his golden coat, before her attention finally turns to the pup. "Hey there babe," she murmurs, her voice soft, soothing. "I think that may be my area of expertise," she chuckles, eying Keston with the flick of her ears in a silent question; do you mind? Turning, she races towards a few dead trees that dangle over heading towards the pits, and in an effort to hurry; lurches upwards to snap off a large overhanging branch. It crumbles from the rest and she drags it back to the girl to place it softly before her, her eyes gentle as takes a step back from it. "Close your eyes," she mutters softly to the child, though she wouldn't mind if she didn't, Lyon just didn't want to scare her.

She focuses on the branch before summoning flame, her ears bowing against her head as the pendant by her chest ignites with a hum kept only for herself to hear. Fire bursts to life around the branch, and instantly Lyonesse feels her energy levels lower significantly, one of the reasons she had brought the branch over, even though she didn't need it to make a fire. She drags herself around it to the girl, the heat already remarkable from the small fire, and if allowed; she'd lay herself down next to Pumpkin and pull heat from her pendant, letting it spread through her whole body before sharing it with the child. She'd nestle in closer, lapping a paw over the stuck one that the babe was trying to free, to radiate the heat through them both. "See, much better right?" Lyonesse turns to look at the rogue with a curiosity, though she is much more concerned for her safety even though she trusts Keston wouldn't harm her. "My name is Lyonesse, what's yours?"

Warmed air circulated through his lungs as he breathed out towards her paws, which adhered stubbornly to the frozen earth. His brow draws into a furrowed line, replacing the playfulness of the young king with a countenance of focused concern. The pair of gold-tufted ears swivel with the need to practice heightened attentiveness—the girl’s predicament left her vulnerable, Keston had no intention of leaving her side until he could be reassured of her protection and safety. The mention of a companion, however, would capture his interest. “Then I imagine you’ll want to be free when Gardener returns?” The Lioncourt asks gently, his voice embodying a note of light-heartedness to prevent her from feel uneasy. “Who is Gardener?” The leonine man asked aloud—was he a playmate or sibling, perhaps a caretaker even? Encouraged by her request for him to try again, Keston inhales once more, filling his lungs with the chilled air of winter where it is warmed and ready to exhale.

In the process of his attempt, the shuffle of footsteps drew his attention with a snap of his head. Instinctively, his ears fold back as a precaution and his body shifts to shield the girl away from the approaching wolf. To his surprise and delight, he discovers the wolf to be Tennyson and the tension he held across his shoulders dissipated slowly. “Help me warm her paws?” He answered in reply, while his mind worked to finding another solution. Perhaps if one of them used their powers to create a small amount of water to separate the girl’s paws from the ground while the other quickly evaporated the water before it could refreeze—would that work? But then that would not help much with the cold, and the risk was nearly too great to further jeopardize the girl’s chance.

Fortunately, Keston was not left to his wondering for long as a woman from Fire came to the rescue. A grateful expression dawns across his features just as he recognized Lyonesse, offering a grateful bow of his head before sidestepping so she could use Akako’s gifts. “Don’t be frightened—you’ll be free and warmer in just moments.” Keston offers to Pumpkin in reassured, clearwater eyes lowering with his body as he seeks to lay down on her level for comfort. As Lyonesse ignites the twigs with a flame, the warmth of fire quickly sweeps through the area and the crackle of the fire brings relief amidst that winter day. Working in tandem to the efforts to defrost Pumpkin’s paws, the mariner inhales deeply against the cold sting of the air to employ the use of evaporation, wicking away the frost as it melts to prevent her paws from refreezing to the ground. When satisfied, Keston would exhale again, releasing a mist of vapor as it collides with the frigid atmosphere.

Warmed, toasted and sprinkled with spice;
roasted seeds are for sale in the pumpkin patch.

More wolves came to visit the pumpkin patch and eyes shifted to the younger male that Keston seemed to know to her paws to a darker lady. She watched as she gathered some sticks; ears perking in curiosity as she answered Kestons question. "Gardener's my mums uncle and Butternut's my brother." She frowned; something about the information seemed almost too important to speak about. So far they hadn't hurt her; but where was he? Where was butters? Warily she closed her eyes as instructed. There was a flare of light against her lids; much like when you closed your eyes to look at the sun and warmth beside her. Opening them; she jumped. Her paws were free but with an adult basically on either side of her and a fire in front of her.... she was still just as trapped as when her paws had been stuck. A mad scramble to duck free of them; enough to face them all with her hackles spiked and tail stiff out behind her as she fought the exhaustion that had come with being warm and safe. Was she? Safe? "I'm Pumpkin... How'd you do that?" Another question tormented the back of her thoughts and she cautiously crept closer to the adults and the warmth of the fire; her tail starting to lash back and forth. Why wasn't Gardener back yet? torn between trusting and jumpy; independence and the safety of the adults. How much to tell them? Her voice softened as her gaze shifted to her paws. "I don't think he's coming back... He woulda been back by now." There. A confession that she was alone. What would these three do now? What would she do now? Maybe she shouldn't have been so fast to jump away from them all. Careful steps brought her closer to the flames while her nose twitched and a front paw reached out towards the warmth. Wait. She didn't touch it; returning her paw before it got close enough to get burned. Maybe it was dangerous... was that why she'd had to close her eyes? "Can I touch it?" Between the fire and the vapors Keston had breathed out she as having trouble deciding what she wanted to know about first. As she looked between them all her stomach grumbled rather loudly and she smiled. Silly belly; making all that noise. There. A bite of the snow; white powder upon her muzzle as she crunched at some of the icier crystals in an effort to ease off the hunger.

He still hesitates a little even after Keston gives an instruction. He doesn't see how it could be very effective, but anything to help the child, right? He slowly makes his way worth, silent and abnormally awkward as he nears the two. Yet they seem to be in luck when a wolf of Fire makes her way towards him. Immediately he can tell she means no harm (they were lucky in that, too. The citizens of Doutaini, at least those he's seen or witnessed, always had a child's best interest in mind, especially when they were in need). The awkwardness fades away off of him and he bears watch to the Fire woman's use of her overly-warm body heat. Consecutively, Keston evaporates the water before it could freeze back up, and Tennyson finds relief the problem has been solved (even though he...didn't really help. Nice). Cautious eyes watch as the child scrambles away from the large adults, yet soon her curiosity takes back control and she finds herself captivated by the fire. Wary, he draws near with concise steps. He sees her paw draw near and just as she pulls away, Tennyson speaks, "Don't touch the fire. Fire is dangerous." and by that he meant the element, not the pack. From a boy born surrounded by water, you would think he probably didn't know about the opposite water. Yet even without that knowledge, his instincts told him that the element was dangerous, and should always be treated with caution.

But he was curious about the fire as well. Though he obviously knows of the magic, Tennyson is quite curious in Lyonesse's abilities.

They seem glad that she had arrived, and where her pendant couldn't, this alone brings warmth to her chest. That feeling of being needed, after so many months of feeling abandoned, it helps soothe a place in her heart where before, there was only ice. Not even Akako could heal her scars. She lays, but as she does the pup opens her eyes and scuttles free, it leaves Keston and Lyon beside each other, and she finds herself staring at him in slight confusion before she realizes that she'd frightened Pumpkin away. Guilt drips along her spine and she unfolds her legs to move away from the Water king, closer to her fire, the one true companion she could rely on. "Each pack here has a God or Goddess, you see," she says to the child as curiosity brings her forwards towards the fire, "my pack fire, is lead by the God Akako, who gifts us with the power of flame," she tells Pumpkin, gesturing the fire, "and Keston's pack water, is lead by the Goddess Kei," she continues, winking at the leonine kind with a charming curl of her lips, "she gives them the power of water," though she'd never seen those powers in the flesh, something that would truly excite her.

The next question pulls a gasp from her throat, but Pumpkin pulls her paw back just in time and Lyon sighs, relief flooding her veins, "no you can't touch fire, it will burn the skin right off your bones," she says, driving the point home perhaps a little more than what Tennyson had, and perhaps a little too much for a child, but it was something important for Pumpkin to know. Resigned; Lyon folds her hind end down to sit beside her fire, it still burns warmly, and for her it is pleasant. Emerald eyes search the childs' face for fear, for sadness, even as she mentions the man that was meant to come back for her; so you've been abandoned too? She tilts her head, ears flopping lazily against her skull; "you could come stay with me if you'd like, or Keston, and we can help you look for him if you wanted us to. You'd be welcome in the warmth of Akako's lands." Maybe this Gardener was just lost, though Lyon was doubtful, that was not usually the way of Doutaini travellers.

The bite of winter assaults him with a layer of frost clinging to the flaxen strands of the seaborne ambassador, but as he neared the crackling fire, the sharpness quickly melted away. His nostrils flare and Keston breathes deeply, filling his lungs with the rich aroma of burning wood and taking special care not to inhale the smoke which accompanied the flames. Pulling his sights of cerulean eyes from the marvel of warmth, the leonine man listens while Pumpkin divulged the identities of her companions—Gardner and Butternut, members of her family. As the young girl comes to the conclusion that Gardner might not return. “Surely, he could not have gotten far. Would you like us to help you look for him?” Keston inquires, for he knows too well how sharp a knife is when plunged from the abandonment of family. Though he had forgiven his mother and brother in time, they had left a scar on his heart as a reminder, same as the combat scars that lay across his body—he would offer everything in his power to see another wolf spared the anguish he had experienced as a child. He nods his head gently as Lyonesse spoke. “Our home is open to you, and while Cerulean Waters cannot compete with the warmth of Lyonesse’s home, it is a place of great relief come spring and summer. Kei would be delighted to welcome you into her embrace.” Keston adds when she had finished, the light of dancing flames setting his golden strands ablaze.

It was time to be carved and gutted; picked by
the world and taken away from the pumpkin patch.

It hadn't been fear that had her darting away; or rather; not a fear of Lyonesse. She knew it; in her gut that she was alone. If they hadn't come back yet they never would... though she hadn't wanted to admit it; even to herself. Both were quick to warn her from it and as Lyonesse mentioned the skin burning from her bones her mouth curled into an odd little grin. "I've seen bones before; pappa's right before Gardener grabbed us and ran." She could stay with them. With the flame lady or the fuzzy male from water... Tales of spring and summer as she shifted a smidge closer to the flames for warmth and decided to sit her butt down next to Tennyson. For a moment it was mesmerizing; the dancing amber lights against the sparkle of snow and ice. She decided.

"Gardener has green eyes and black fur with lots of grey around his muzzle and stuff; he said it's cause he's old. Butternut's kinda similar in color to Tennyson here; but with bright yellow eyes. Perhaps that had been why she'd decided to sit next to him? Alright then. Time to grow up; time to face the tiller and tear up the earth for fresh pumpkin plantings. "He's never left me alone this long before... so I have to assume something's happened but I would appreciate you all keeping an eye out for them." It hurt to say it out loud and her shoulders hunched as her body posture revealed the depths of her misery. To think that they hadn't come back. That she was alone. That she had to grow up too fast and face a world wasn't always nice. "Can I stay with Miss Lyonesse until the start of summer and then come to you both in water for two seasons or is that asking too much?" She didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings and they'd all been quite kind to her. Plus she was interested in seeing both places; learning about both... but right now she wanted the warmth. Her old home was proof that nothing was promised to last but she couldn't see Keston being attacked any time soon... he was too nice to be.

ooc: when you realize you made Tennyson more innocent than he should be

It is disgusting; the thought of such a child being abandoned, in the winter no less, almost makes bile rise from his throat. He feels a personal passion to this particular situation, finding loyalty among comrades ( and most definitely family ) to be one of the most valuable traits. His eyes watch her with mild curiosity as she decides to go with Lyonesse, but she requests to occasionally stay with the Water wolves. The idea sounds pleasing, and he finds no fault within it. However, it is ultimately Keston's decision that would give the final word, so he remains without word as he awaits for an answer.

Lyonesse - although, it would be better if Keston went first, then we could wrap the thread up? Up to you guys